Facade

by Lexy Timms

  “Yes, Miss Emma?” I asked.

  “I wasn’t aware a crew was coming in to do any work on your office,” she said.

  “Because it was a last-minute call,” I said.

  “Do you want me to stay and keep tabs on them?”

  “Yeah. Do you want her to stay and keep an eye on things?”

  I shot Jacob a look as Emma’s eyes darted between the two of us.

  “Because I’m free if you need me,” Emma said.

  “She’s free, Mr. Steele. Very, very free,” Jacob said.

  “No, Miss Emma. No extra surveillance is necessary,” I said. “In fact, some more cameras are going to be installed. Some electrical wiring was faulty, but I figured if a crew was going to be coming in, then we could lock down our security a bit more.”

  “That sounds like a very wise decision, Mr. Steele,” Emma said.

  If Jacob’s grin grew any more, it was going to split his face in half.

  “If you’ll excuse us, Miss Emma,” I said.

  “Okay. I’ll be at my desk if you need me.”

  “If you need her,” Jacob said with a smile.

  Emma shut the door behind her, and I practically lunged at Jacob. He laughed at me, tossing his head back and filling the room with his voice. Jacob had a booming laugh that always seemed to relax me in my tenser moments, and I found myself chuckling along with him.

  “You’re a dick,” I said.

  “Fuck. She’s really got a hard-on for you,” he said. “But really, extra surveillance? Something going on?”

  “That shit at the charity event spooked me a bit, and this level isn’t really fortified with anything. No cameras. No automatically locking doors.”

  “We’ve got two personal security guards at the elevator and twenty-two floors between us and the bottom of this place,” he said.

  “Just go with it, okay?” I asked. “If we had this surveillance beforehand, we would’ve caught that intern incident before shit escalated to where it did.”

  “That is very true. So, this has nothing to do with the letters you’ve been getting.”

  I tossed him a look as he drew in a deep breath.

  “Shit,” he said.

  “Yep.”

  “Where was it this time?”

  “My fucking bed.”

  “Your what?” he asked.

  “Yeah. My fucking bedroom, Jacob.”

  “Okay. Yep. Cameras everywhere.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Now, onto the real question.”

  “There’s a real question?” I asked.

  “Does Emma know the truth about Sam?” he asked.

  “I did maybe mention to her that Sam was my girlfriend, yes,” I said.

  “And how did she take that?”

  “Not well, but she accepted it eventually. She made some comments about Sam not being good enough for me, and I made sure to let her know it wasn’t her place to have that opinion.”

  “Derek, I don’t know. You think she’s got some sort of play in all of this?” Jacob asked.

  “If we’re being honest? I’ve got some people looking into that. She’s been fingered as a possible suspect, but I’m not going to mess with it until I’m one hundred and ten percent sure.”

  “You know, if you weren’t so damn handsome, this wouldn’t be happening to you.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah! All the ugly CEOs of shit never have stuff like this happen to them. It’s because you’re too good-looking, my friend.”

  “You're an idiot.”

  “But think about it. This could be a pissed off old flame, or this could be Emma really being disgruntled over all that paperwork you guys signed a couple of years ago.”

  “That was two years, Jacob.”

  “And maybe it’s festered. Look, you don’t know. So, you have to come at this from every angle.”

  “I’m not that much of a playboy,” I said.

  “Doesn’t mean you don’t have ex-girlfriends whose hearts you didn’t break,” he said.

  “This could also be a disgruntled ex-employee. You know, someone who’s pissed off about losing their job.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’ve got someone looking into all of this. You handing over information as you come up with it?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m trying to do it without raising any flags, and that's taking some time.”

  “If that’s what you want, go ahead. I’ll keep an eye and an ear out, like always. If I hear or see anything weird, I’ll let you know now that I know you’ve got someone on this case or whatever.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “And I’ll make sure this video stuff is being set up right in your absence if you want me to. Since you’ll be frolicking with the girlfriend.”

  “You’re not happy about that, are you?”

  “I get your need for relief. I know it’ll distract you from all this shit that’s going on with you. Anything I can do to help, you let me know. Don’t let one aspect of your life slide in preparation for another, though. That gets tricky.”

  “I can balance the need for sex and the need for work, Jacob. Done it all my life.”

  “But now you have someone trying to take your life. That’s a serious thing,” he said.

  “Got it, Jacob. Just keep an eye on all this shit while I’m gone, okay?” I asked.

  “You got it, boss.”

  “Now, for another question.”

  “Fuck. What? I’ve got work to do,” I said.

  “Who’s the Calvin Klein model sitting on your sofa?”

  He nodded over toward John who picked up his hand and waved.

  “That’s my new hired bodyguard to throw everyone off my scent,” I said.

  “Whatever suits your fancy. Let me know when you touch down in Vegas, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  Jacob turned on his heels to leave just as Sam came crashing through the door. She was wearing sunglasses and her stereotypical skinny jeans as well as a black T-shirt. I rolled my eyes and sighed as Jacob’s eyes scanned her body, stopping Sam in her tracks.

  Jacob looked back at me with a quizzical look before I shrugged.

  “Hope you’re not dressing like that to travel,” Jacob said.

  I stifled a laugh as Sam’s frown grew deeper on her face.

  Jacob nodded his head and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Sam’s eyes rolled over to me as her sunglasses slid down her face. What the hell did this woman want now? And why the fuck did she insist on wearing such tight ass pants?

  “Did I forget something?” I asked.

  “Always,” she said.

  Then she handed me a list of the suspects she’d compiled, requesting their full work files from the company.

  “Seriously?” I asked.

  “Yep. You can hand them off to me tomorrow on the plane,” she said.

  “Tomorrow afternoon?” I asked.

  “See you then,” she said.

  Chapter 12

  Sam

  THE PLANE TOOK OFF for Vegas promptly at nine fifteen the next morning. My bag was packed with everything I could need for a possible ambush, and I was on high-alert. Derek placed the folders of information I needed in my hands, and I slid them into my bag, saving that work for tonight after I swept his hotel room for bugs and traps.

  “Okay. I’m going to take this time in the air with you to talk about your past,” I said.

  “Sounds like a good time,” Derek said. “Care for some champagne?”

  “I’m good. I don’t drink on the job. So, how many past lovers have you had?”

  “Wow. We really just hopped in there, didn’t we?” he asked.

  “I want to make the most of our time together.”

  “How romantic,” he said.

  “I don’t want your official past. You know, the past you put out to the public. I need the past you don’t talk about.”

  “Under one condition,” he said.

&nb
sp; “What?”

  “I’ll answer any question you ask if you promise to answer it in return.”

  “Fine, if that’s what it takes,” I said. “How many past lovers have you had?”

  “Dated or slept with?”

  “Dated and slept with more than once,” I said.

  “Three,” he said. “Your turn.”

  “Dated and slept with? Two. I’m going to need the names of them, by the way.”

  “Then I’ll need the names of yours,” he said.

  “No.”

  “Then this conversation stops.”

  “I’m gathering information to compile and cross people off your list. The names are necessary to look into them further and see if their broken hearts have spiraled into something more.”

  “I don’t leave women with a broken heart. I make sure they’re taken care of.”

  “Mr. Steele, if you make me search for this information on my own, I’ll be very loud about it. You know, to piss you off.”

  “Please tell me your loudness is a promise,” I said with a grin.

  “Get me their names so I can run a check on them. I’m not asking again.”

  “I love it when you’re demanding. Fine. Next question,” he said.

  “Have you had any beef or issues with any companies? Other CEOs you’ve pissed off? Companies you’ve acquired in your time as CEO that resulted in people who could lash out in anger?”

  “Yes, but if you ask me to compile a list, I’ll be compiling for days. With every business I’ve bought, turned around, and kept stock in, there’s always a few people who are pissed I’m there.”

  “Are there any who have acted on that anger? Gotten in your face or threatened you in any way?” I asked.

  “A few. I take it you want their names as well?”

  “And the companies they belonged to, yes.”

  “I don’t know how I can turn that question around on you, so I’ll ask you this. What’s your family like? Got any siblings?”

  “I did.”

  I watched his face fall as pity began to fill his eyes. I hated that look when I answered shit about my family, and people automatically thought I needed to be coddled. I’d coped with what happened. I moved on from the incident. I didn’t need their pity pulling me back into a past I’d left behind for a reason.

  “What is your company like?” I asked. “Have you laid off anyone who became disgruntled in your opinion?”

  “I, uh, excuse me.”

  He cleared his throat and straightened himself out as I kept my eyes on him. Why had he become so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

  “I run a decent company, but it hasn’t been without its faults. A lot of money runs through our walls on a daily basis, and I have fired a few employees for embezzlement. I never did it without proof, but once it was proven, swift action inside and outside of the office was taken. We also had a massive merger a couple years back, and some layoffs occurred. I felt terrible about it, but there was nothing I could do. The merger couldn’t sustain the employees we’d taken on with it.”

  “How many were laid off?” I asked.

  “Two hundred people in all. The other company was going to tank without the merger, and the only way to resuscitate it was to merge it with us. Long term, it was the best thing I could've done for both my company and their company. Otherwise, everyone would’ve lost their jobs. As the company stabilized, I’ve hired some people back, but thirty people out of two hundred is still one hundred and seventy people laid off.”

  “Again, any of them threaten you face to face?” I asked. “Over email, maybe a phone call?”

  “Only two. So that’ll be easy. If you want, I can rattle off these names for you now.”

  “That’s fine. Go ahead.”

  “You want to write them down or something?”

  “I’ll remember them. Just go,” I said.

  “The two disgruntled employees from that layoff were Robert Wiltshire and Nancy Pettigrew.”

  “What about the embezzlement layoffs?” I asked.

  “You sure you can remember this?”

  “Yes. I’m very good at remembering things. I have near-perfect recall.”

  “Near-perfect isn’t perfect,” I said.

  “Trust me. I got it. Keep going.”

  “Harvey Wilson, Sam Wilcox, and Martie Chandler were the three caught embezzling.”

  “I actually recall an article I read on that issue. I’ll backtrack it later. What about the women?” I asked.

  “The women I dated?”

  “Yep.”

  “Um, let’s see. There was Lisa Blatacky. She was a shrewd businesswoman. We parted on mutual terms because we got caught up in growing our own companies. Then there was Valerie Rickshaw, who was nothing but a rich socialite. Killer pair of legs. Lived off Mom and Dad. And Gretchen Lancaster, who was in journalism school at the time. I met her at a fundraiser. She was smart as a whip but incredibly judgmental about my passion to be a businessman. She was always ‘fighting the man’ and ‘pushing back against the system’ and shit like that. Last time we spoke was around last year.”

  “Do you know when you last spoke to the other two?” I asked.

  “I’ve been too busy running a company to recall that kind of information. The only reason I remember her was because she was the most recent.”

  “Seems she left her imprint,” I said.

  “Like I said, she was the last so she’s easier to recall.”

  But I knew better. Men didn’t always recall their last. But they did always recall their best.

  “I get where Gretchen’s coming from. I’ve always been a warrior woman, of sorts. It’s why I haven’t dated much. If I wasn’t out in the field or training, I was intimidating men who didn’t enjoy the company of a strong woman.”

  “It takes a special man to stand beside a woman like that,” Derek said.

  “Plus, being in all my units, not much dating happened, period. No one ever wanted to throw off the cohesion of the group by introducing distracting outside influences.”

  “Then why did you bring John into things?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Aren’t you attracted to him?”

  I threw my head back and laughed at the thought of it all.

  “What? Hell, no. He’s nowhere near my type. Yikes. Where the fuck did you get that notion?” I asked.

  “The way you look at him,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I’ve known him for years. Worked alongside him in many ops and with many clients. I trust him. He’s probably the only person I do trust.”

  “So you don’t trust easily.”

  “In my line of work, can you blame me?” I asked.

  We talked back and forth a little while longer before I had to get up to go to the bathroom. The restroom was so much bigger than any airplane I’d ever been on, and I grinned as I shook my head. Derek Steele was a lavish man who enjoyed his finer things, but I wasn’t going to complain about it. Whatever finer things in life he enjoyed, I could enjoy right alongside him to ease the work this detail was going to create for me.

  I was making my way back to my seat when turbulence struck. I tried bracing myself on my feet, but then the plane hit an air pocket. I went falling to the side, right into Derek’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around me to keep us from going anywhere. His arms locked around me, and my eyes whipped up to him, and he held me there until the plane stabilized.

  But once the plane was steady, his arms didn’t budge.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, unable to speak as my eyes stared up into his.

  His touch was warm. Soft, despite how strongly he was holding me. His entire body was positioned around me, curled up in case something else happened. He was trying to protect me, and I knew the instinct well.

  I’d always been the giver of it instead of the receiver.

  Whipping myself out of the trance, I scrambled from his grasp. I fell b
ack into my seat, then buckled myself for our descent. I got off the plane quickly and scanned the car. Then, I checked to make sure the driver was who I’d vetted before this trip.

  Then, we headed over to the hotel.

  I swept his room for bugs and traps as he stood in the shared alcove outside the front door. I could tell he was annoyed at it all, but I wanted to make sure nothing was taking us by surprise.

  “Why isn’t your backup doing all this?” Derek asked.

  “I’m on my own this weekend so they can get the electrical hooked up,” I said. “Okay, the room’s clear. Come on in.”

  I walked over to the door that separated his hotel room from mine.

  “I’m just behind this door,” I said as I opened it. “I’ll keep it cracked at night in case something happens.”

  I couldn’t stop looking around the hotel room. The sheer size of it was breathtaking. I’d never been in a place like this before.

  “To answer your question, yes. Your room is identical to mine,” Derek said.

  My eyes fluttered to his, and I could see a cheeky little grin sliding across his cheeks.

  “I’m going to go get cleaned up,” I said as I slid through the door. “Remember to check your peephole before you answer the door for anyone. If you don’t see anyone, come and get me before you make a move.”

  “Got it,” Derek said. “Loud and clear.”

  I slipped into my hotel room and kept the shared door open. I dropped my back next to the couch as my eyes scanned the expanse of my room. I had my own private balcony and everything. It was amazing, a place I would’ve really enjoyed had I not been working.

  I heard Derek beginning to talk, probably alerting someone to the fact that he was safe. I walked into the bathroom and began to strip down, shaking my head at the size of the damn thing. The walk-in shower could fit five people comfortably, and there was a bathtub with jets. I took my time cleaning myself up, allowing the hot water to cascade over my body as I relaxed from the plane ride.

  From the questions and the enjoyed conversation.

  From the feel of his arms wrapped around my body.

  I stepped out of the shower, remembering that my guns were still in my bag. I wrapped a small towel around me and went to go grab one so I could carry it around with me at all times. I needed to be prepared. I couldn’t allow the beauty of this place to distract me. But as I was coming out of the room with my gun in my hand, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.